


Protocol: Howl

by Merlin_Wolfgang_Trades_Hale



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alpha Grunkle Stan, Badass Wendy Corduroy, Family Drama, Family Feels, Fatherly Manly Dan Corduroy, Grunkle Ford Needs A Hug, Grunkle Stan Needs A Hug, Guilty Dipper Pines, Secrets, The Corduroy's are hunter-ish, Werewolf Grunkle Stan, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-12-31 22:00:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12142020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlin_Wolfgang_Trades_Hale/pseuds/Merlin_Wolfgang_Trades_Hale
Summary: The Corduroy's carry around silver headed axes that the town believes comes from their lumberjack tournaments, but Stan Pines knows different. They're part of his insurance plan he set up with Manly Dan years ago when he realized his stay in Gravity Falls was going to be a long one.Ford, Mabel, and Dipper find out about this little insurance plan when Dipper's attempt to out the mailman work a little too well and he outs Grunkle Stan as a werewolf as well.





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey dudes, whatcha doin’?” Soos asked the kids as they seemed to be keeping look out for something.

“I’m helping Dipper with one of his mysteries. He promised to have a tea party with me and Waddles after!” Mabel cried happily.

“It’s a small price to pay for science.” Dipper sighed but then smirked when he pulled out a bag full of dust.

“What’s that? Some sort of powder that let’s you see people’s auras depending on their mood?” Soos asked as he leaned down to inspect the silver, slightly rainbow-y colored dust.

“No, not exactly.” Dipper said.

“Though that would be totally awesome!” Mabel added.

“True. I’m sure there’s something in the forest. Later we can-oh here he comes!” Dipper exclaimed. He and Mabel rushed to their positions.

Soos stood back, normally always itching to be part of the twin’s schemes. But it wasn’t until it was too late that he realized what that powder stuff was.

“DIPPER NO WAI-”

Dipper blew the powder into the mailman’s face and the result was almost instantaneous. The mailman’s eyes glew a bright yellow and he let out a low growl. If it wasn’t for Soos who pulled the twins back in time, they would have met his sharp claws. Soos did his best to block the werewolf’s path from him and the twins but he was running out of things to throw between them and would soon be pressed against the wall...literally.

The werewolf mailman let out an angry roar. From the basement Ford’s voice could be heard.

“ _KIDS_!”

Just as the vending machine opened, and the werewolf was going to lunge at the terrified trio, a blur lunged at the werewolf. It took a moment for the Pines family to realize the thing rolling around with the werewolf was Stan.

“Stanley!” Ford cried in panic as he watched his brother wrestle with the furry beast.

The wolf’s claws were dug into Stan’s shoulder, blood soaking his suit. Stan was doing his best to keep him at bay while trying to push him towards the door. Ford was going to grab one of the displays to help his brother but the wolf roared again, shook his mane and whatever dust Dipper had thrown on him, fell on Stan, which made the older man freeze.

“Oh no...Dudes, we gotta get out of here! Like now!” Soos exclaimed as he tried to carry the twins out of there.

“What? But Grunkle Stan needs us!” Mabel cried.

“He’s hurt, Soos! We can’t leave him against a werewolf!” Dipper yelled, guilt coursing through him. Why did he think this was a good idea?

“This _could_ get dicey. Take the children to safety. I’ll help Stanley.” Ford told Soos calmly, agreeing that he should take the children.

“No, you need to come too Mr. Other Pines! It’s not safe here! We need to call Wendy and Manly Dan!”

“What are you talking about?” Ford ask with a raised brow. He was about to tell him how he knew how to fight things stronger than a mere wolf when he noticed something wasn’t right with Stanley.

A moment later he knew why Soos wanted them all gone.

Stan’s eyes glowed red. The pressure in the room seemed to drop before an ominous low growl escape the older man’s mouth. Before their eyes, Stan shifted into a hairy wolfman beast with claws and fangs and a crazed look in those red eyes.

The mailman whimpered and tried to dislodge himself from Stan, but Stan wasn’t going to let it end now. He growled before biting into the other wolf. Their fighting caused them to roll around again, knocking things over and making it hard to see who was clawing into who.

The Pines family watched in horror, not really being able to accept what it was they were seeing. So focused on the fight they didn’t see the door open and Wendy step in.

Her eyes widened but was only shocked for a moment. When that moment ended she got into gear. She hopped behind the counter and pulled out the crossbow she had hidden behind there for this reason in particular. She aimed the crossbow at Stan’s shoulder and when she had a clear shot, she fired.

Stan roared as he fell back. The mailman took that opening and burst through the window. Wendy jumped the counter again and reloaded the crossbow. While she aimed, she yelled to Soos, “Soos! Get my dad on the radio and get my brothers after the mailman!”

“Right! S’cuse me dudes.” Soos put the twins down and went for the walkie-talkie and radioed Manly Dan.

“Wendy! What are you doing!?” Dipper cried as he and Mabel ran in front of her and blocked her from shooting Stan again.

Wendy pushed them behind her. “I’ll explain later. Get upstairs, now!”

When she steadied her aim again, Ford grabbed the bow and lowered it. “You’re _not_ going to shoot my brother again!”

Before she could explain anything, Stan lunged at them with a growl. Soos managed to tackle Ford out of the way while Wendy shot another arrow into Stan. He whimpered like a wounded animal and took a few steps backs.

“GRUNKLE STAN!” Mabel shrieked.

“Wendy, there’s gotta be another way!” Dipper yelled.

“Stanley, stop this!” Ford begged. He tried to meet his brother’s eyes. To find any glimpse of the Stanley he knew and loved. But in those red eyes and hairy face there was only beast, no man. “I know you’re in there Lee! You have to be! A monster didn’t bring me back, my brother did! Stanley!”

Stan was panting, crouched low, growling softly so it was more of a rumble.

“I think it’s working Grunkle Ford.” Mabel whispered.

Stan’s eyes then narrowed and his stance changed. He was about to pounce. Ford pushed the twins behind him but held his ground though his hand reached for his lazer gun.

Wendy reached for something in a drawer behind the counter and threw it at Stan’s feet. When he lunged, he was met with a circle of black powder that created a force field. No matter how hard Stan pushed against it, it wouldn’t let him through.

The door chime rang and they looked over to see Manly Dan enter with a few tools. One of them being a dog muzzle leash dog catchers use on dangerous dogs.

Dan nodded to Wendy, who nodded back and went to help him with the tools he brought. The lumberjack then looked to Soos and said, “You best get these kids outta here…”

Soos nodded and pushed Dipper, Mabel, and Ford towards the door that led into the house part of the shack.

“What are they going to do to Grunkle Stan?” Dipper asked, voice full of worry and guilt. In his mind, it was all his fault.

“Don’t worry dudes, it’s gonna be totally fine. Okay? Okay. Hey! Let’s go in the kitchen and make some grub, huh?” Soos said with forced cheerfulness as he rushed the rest of the Pines into the kitchen. He pulled out a pot and placed it on the stove and started the fire before grabbing a pitcher and filling it with water from the sink to pour it into the pot. “How bout some mac’n’cheese? Huh? That’s good right? Food for family night. Normal family night where everything is okay because nothing is wrong. Nope, nothing is-”

“Soos!” Dipper and Mabel both called out his name.

Soos stopped and sighed, pulled himself together and faced the family. “They know what to do, dudes.”

“ _How_?” Ford demanded. He was trying to wrap his head around all of this. Trying to determine when Stan could have been bitten. How he could fix this.

“We got it under control.” Wendy said as she came into the kitchen. She looked around before pulling a twenty out of her pocket and handing it to Dipper. “Look...it’s a long story. And you’ll get it. But for now, how about you take Mabel and Soos to get some ice cream and other junk for Stan?”

“Huh? How’s that going to help?” Dipper asked.

“Well…” Wendy struggled to find the words for a bit. “After episodes like this, Stan’s going to wake up feeling achy and tired and moody. Junk food helps him feel better. There’s not much you guys can do here, so this is something. I promise he’ll be okay.”

“You shot him. Twice.” Mabel deadpanned, not really happy with Wendy at the moment.

Wendy frowned at that but nodded in acknowledging it. “I know. But I promise dudes, I know what I’m doing. It _wasn’t_ lethal...but Stan is... _powerful_. Now go. I promise you’ll get answers later.” She nodded to Soos and got a shaky nod back.

Soos ushered the kids through the door and into his truck.

Wendy watched them go. She knew Soos hated when this happened. It always shook him up bad.

“Now that the children are gone, can someone please tell me what the hell is going on? Where’s Stan?” Ford demanded as he tried to head back to the gift shop. His way was blocked by Dan though.

“Go check in on your brothers, kiddo. Mr. Pines and I are going to have a talk.” Dan said. He grabbed a Pitt Cola before sitting down.

Ford wanted to go check in on Stan.

“He’s going to be out for a few hours.” Dan commented, sensing the torn decision in the other older Pines twin.

Hearing that, Ford sighed before taking a seat across Dan.

“When was my brother bitten?”

“‘Round 35 years ago, give or take.”


	2. Chapter 2

Ford kept looking towards the direction of the gift shop wanting to get up and see his brother, but Dan said again that Stanley wouldn’t be awake for a while. So he kept seated and waited until his brain could form the questions he wanted to ask. 

“How long have you known? You and your daughter seem to have a…” Ford looked for the word, but Dan answered him. 

“Protocol?” Dan offered him. When Ford nodded, Dan elaborated a bit. “This town is weird. Anyone comin’ in from the outside can tell. And might think us who live here stupid or naive or both fer not seeming to notice or care. But we know. Some can ignore it, pretend, or whatever. But when your job includes being in the woods fer as long as my family has to be in these here woods...it ain’t something you can ignore. There are some folks who think we’re hunters.”

“Hunters?” Ford echoed.

“Yep. There are some who more offen than not dress like lumberjacks and go ‘round looking for weird stuff to snuff em out. It’s insane.” Dan commented as he took a big swig of cola. He belched and wiped his mouth. “But when you hear their reasoning sometimes you can’t blame em. Some of these creatures aren’t just sarcastic assholes...some of them are dangerous.”

Bill immediately came to mind, he always came first when he thought of danger. But the second after came a flash of Stan with thick sideburns, a unibrow, red eyes, and fangs. Ford hated that he would associate Stan in the same category of danger that Dan was suggesting. And he felt guilt for not having noticed at all when Stan arrived to his home all those years ago. 

“You want me to keep talkin’ or is this nuff for today?” Dan asked as he eyed the other Elder Pines carefully. This sort of topic of conversation had different levels of reaction. 

“No! No, keep talking. I need to know.”

Dan nodded, took another swing before crushing his can with his big fist and tossing it into the trash across the room. “Now, my family ain’t hunters. We do live in somewhat coexistence with most of the non-human creatures that live in the forest. Or it’s really more that we just know how to keep out of each other’s hair. When your brother took over yer house, not many knew what had happened. I didn’t really know, still don’t fully know. All I knew was that you’re a twin, you were gone, and yer brother was tryin’ to get you back. But he had a problem.”

“His lycanthropy?” Ford asked, though a bit obvious. It was still a hard pill to swallow. He kept trying to recall those memories from three decades ago to see if there had been any signs he could have noticed. 

“Surprisingly that was only partly.” Dan replied with a relaxed shrug.

“What do you mean?” Ford asked with a raised eyebrow.

“By the time he’d come to Gravity Falls he has been a wolf for a few years. He knew what his body was like, what to expect, how to survive. Crazy sumbitch stole a fridge from McGucket’s scrap yard to make into a cage with a key that only his human mind and hand could open from the inside. It worked for a month or two, but he got that thing at a junkyard so eventually of course it wasn’t strong enough. He broke out during a full moon and ran into one of our traps in the woods.”

Ford’s eyes widening, his mind coming up with horrifying images. 

“Nothing  _ too  _ lethal.” Dan was quick to say considering Ford’s look.

“But lethal enough?” Ford demanded, his voice rising up an octave. 

“For a human? Sure. But yer brother weren’t human by then…” Dan sat back, a far off look in his eyes as he remembered that night. Though he spoke aloud to Ford, it was like he was talking to himself. “He looked surprised the next morning when he realized he had lived. When I helped him free he was a bit dumbfounded why I didn’t just kill him.”

“What did you reply?” Ford asked curiously. 

Dan sort of snapped back to the reality of the day and said. “I am many things, Mr. Pines.” He locked eyes with Ford in a very serious manner and said. “But I ain’t no killer.”

Which pretty much echoed the conversation Dan had with Stan all those years ago. 

“After he was released he ran off. I assumed to a place he thought safe ‘nuff for him to lick his wounds. Day or so later he comes lookin’ fer me. Asked what I knew about wolves. It weren’t much. Nothing outside of myths we get told to scare us as kids. Movies, books. He and I struck a deal.” Dan explained. 

“What sort of deal?”

“From what I know now, you were running around categorizin’ the weirdness of this place, right? Learning about the creatures and their strengths and weaknesses?” When Ford nodded, Dan continued. “Yeah, well...we didn’t have the knowledge you got.  Nothing too concrete. We did what most small towners do. Try to stay away from the real bad and just use it’s stories to scare our kids into going to bed early and eating their veggies.”

Ford began to clue in what the deal was. “But you dealt with it because you worked in the woods. You helped Stan...deal with his lycanthropy and he...what? Helped you learn about the supernatural?”

“The crap we’ve seen your great-nephew deal with, with his sister and my Wendy is pretty astounding. But we didn’t have your information..but Stan had learned a few tricks here and there. Herb combinations, small spells and wards, things that kept me and my family and friends safe. Plus, Stan’s senses came in handy too. He helped mark which areas were safe enough for humans, which to avoid, things like that.”

“And in exchange you….?” Ford opened up the question to get details.

“Contained him for the safety of himself and others.”

“You’re not going to get more specific, are you?” 

“I can only assume yer imagination will create plenty of possibilities, and they may be worse than what we do. But yer brother’s the one who should tell you that. Side’s...I gotta go check on my kids and see if they caught up to that mailman.” Dan said as he stood up.

“Wait! We’re not done here! You said Stanley had an easier time dealing with his lycanthropy than something else. What was that?” Ford asked. 

Dan scoffed, “Ain’t you the genius?”

“Yes, between the two of us, I m technically the smart one.” Ford gruffed.

“Only technically I see. I’ll repeat it then..ain’t you the genius?” Without giving Ford time to reply, Dan went on. “Stan had to bring you back. He wouldn’t give details and it was annoying as hell with how fucking cryptic he got. But I just rolled with it. He had problems understanding the science he needed to work those machines you had built. When he wasn’t working the Mystery Shack to pay fer the house and bills, he was off looking for smart enough people who could dumb down the science he needed to learn. Some of his outburst attacks were the frustration of when physics got too complicated. Can’t say I blame him. Looking at a math books gives me a migraine. I honestly don’t know how he forced himself to read through all them text books…”

Weirdly enough, that was a thought that never crossed Ford’s mind. His machines were an amazing advance in human and scientific history. Some nights even he got migranes trying to make sense of his own(and Bill’s) genius…

Stan brought him back with a fully functioning portal. Sure he had written down instructions but the journals had been scattered, with Stan only having number one from what Dipper told him. Stanley only had bits and pieces of the information and for years he apparently spent a great deal of time trying to understand it. 

Stanley hated studying. 

“Look, it’s clear you guys got some things to work out. But it’s best if you hold on for a few days. That stuff the kid blew in his face really agitated his wolf. He’ll be snappy and moody, and if you get him riled up with the wrong question...well, I might just be here again. I don’t wanna be.” Dan told him. “Let him rest. Get him a steak maybe. Really rare. It’ll calm him.”

And with that, Dan was gone. 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe Stan’s a werewolf and we never noticed…” Dipper muttered in an unbelieving voice. 

“I can’t believe Wendy shot Grunkle Stan.  _ Twice _ !” Mabel cried.

“She had to, dudes. It wasn’t anything against Stan. That stuff just really messes with his senses is all.” Soos said carefully as he parked into the supermarket parking lot. 

“This is all my fault…” Dipper said miserably as he hid his face in his hands.

“No dawg! Come on...don’t think like that.” Soos gave a nervous chuckle. He didn’t think he had the level of maturity needed to reassure the kids with this stuff. This situation still rattled  _ him _ . 

“But it is! What did I want? I wanted to expose the mailman and what did I honestly expect from a werewolf? Now Stan got hurt and Wendy was forced to protect us and hurt Stan and it’s all my fault!” 

Mabel and Soos shared a look before they hugged Dipper. 

“Dipper...We’ve been here all summer with some pretty big mysteries on our hands. Stan’s kept a lot from us...remember when we realized that he knew about the supernatural too?” Mabel asked him. He nodded. “I know it may seem unfair that he didn’t tell us...but you saw how wild and dangerous that fight got. It’s one of the craziest things we’ve seen all summer….I’m sure if we don’t get mad at Grunkle Stan for not telling us about this then he won’t be mad at us for this.”

“You think so?” Dipper asked. Normally he would be very pissed that Grunkle Stan  _ was  _ part of the weirdness of the town, but Mabel was right. The level of danger that Stan showed wasn’t much like anything else they’ve faced so far. 

“Totally!” Mabel cheered and hugged Dipper again. Soos joined in too. 

The siblings then turned to Soos with narrowed eyes. “When did  _ you  _ learn about Stan, Soos?” Dipper asked. 

“Aw, come on dudes...let’s not talk about this now. I’m not saying I won’t spill, but like...not now, kay? I...I don’t wanna talk about that right now.” Soos always seemed to be the level of optimism, and when it came to Stan was always very loyal. The twins were too shaken to press, so they let the matter drop for right now. But made Soos promise to tell them more later. 

They went inside and did a bit of shopping. When Soos was distracted, Dipper pulled Mabel to the side.

“What is it Dipper?”

“There are two werewolves in Gravity Falls. Since I’m going to assume we’re not werewolves and neither is Ford, then Stan was bitten.”

“Do you think it was the mailman who did the biting? Ironic, huh?” Mabel asked.

“That is one option, yes. But what if there are more. A pack or something?”

“Wouldn’t we know if there were more people hanging out with Stan? I mean, I love the guy but Stan doesn’t really have friends or people that seem…’pack’ worthy.” Mabel told Dipper while placing the word pack in air quotes.

Dipper scratched his head, but agreed. “We gotta help Stan. We cured Soos of his zombification. We gotta cure Stan of this too!”

“But the Journal was the one that had a cure for being a zombie. And even in there it said there was a time limit. And it seems like Stan’s been a wolf for a while now…” Mabel said with a frown. 

Dipper matched it because she was right. 

“We still have to try. I owe it to him.”

* * *

 

Wendy circled back to the Shack when her dad finished up talking to Ford. The mailman was dealt with and everything was under control. 

She had left the crossbow under the counter before she left, but at her side was the silver headed axe she was given. When she checked in on Stan, who was dropped off in his room by her dad, she wasn’t surprised to find Ford there. He had a new notebook and pen in hand, a flashlight and other medical like tools on the bed. 

“I wouldn’t get too close.”

Ford stopped his writing and looked over to her. His eyes immediately landed on the axe and his frown deepened. 

“I’m merely taking notes.”

“On a human body. You won’t get him to shift unless you expose him to the stuff Dipper did earlier and I highly advise against it, man.”

Ford closed his notebook and faced Wendy, not without flashing his lazer gun for a second. He had a lot to think about, plenty of questions, and many emotions. But he knew that he wasn’t going to let her hurt Stanley again. 

“What are you doing here?” Ford asked protectively. 

“Making sure Stan’s okay. And I get it alright? I’m sorry I shot him but you know I had to.”

“There could have been other ways.” Ford argued. 

“This is Stan’s protocol, dude. We’re just following his orders.” Wendy stood her ground.

Ford’s face contorted into an image of disbelieving anger. “My brother doesn’t have a deathwish!

Wendy and Ford locked eyes for a long moment before she told him. “Stan realizes the danger he poses. He’s a man with a ton of guilt. Crud only my dad may know or only Stan himself knows. If he hurt someone while phased, it  _ would  _ kill him….he made us promise to make sure he never becomes that sort of monster.”

“My brother is not a monster.” Ford stated. 

“Because he’s family and we haven’t let him become one. Look, you  _ used  _ to know Stan. But you have been gone for 30 years. This isn’t the same world, it’s not the same Gravity Falls, and it’s not the same Stan.”

_ ‘Round 35 years ago, give or take’ _

Dan’s words echoed in his mind. 

He hated not knowing things. He hated admitting he was wrong even more. But there was a truth she was trying to get him to land on that was in a way admitting an error. 

Truth was...they may share a face, but he and Stan were strangers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stan's my favorite character so there might be some favoritism towards him. I will hopefully not make Ford into an uncharacteristically douche-y guy. And Stan being my favorite might mean I might make his life sadder and more miserable so who knows.
> 
> I'm sort of making this up as I go along with only a vague idea of where I'm heading. But I hope you like the madness I've made so far.


End file.
